author
Emil K. Urban
A leading American ornithologist, Emil K. Urban is best remembered for helping bring the monumental The Birds of Africa series to completion. His work combined field research, teaching, and a lifelong fascination with African birdlife.
1 Audiobook
Birds from Coahuila, Mexico
by Emil K. Urban
About the author
Born in Milwaukee in 1934, Emil K. Urban studied at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Kansas before earning his Ph.D. in 1964. Although his doctoral work focused on lizards, he became a distinguished ornithologist whose research centered on the birds of Africa.
He taught for 31 years at Augusta State University, where he was recognized with the Fuller E. Callaway Award for teaching excellence. Alongside his academic work, he carried out field studies and published widely on African birds.
Urban is especially associated with The Birds of Africa, the ambitious reference series he helped write and edit across decades. Colleagues remembered that project as his life's great work, and it remains a major part of his legacy in ornithology.